


Regulus and Denebola

by RaenUE



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: M/M, Not quite slow burn but it takes a moment to get going, mostly because I can’t ever just /get to the point/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 20:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18415232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaenUE/pseuds/RaenUE
Summary: Caineghis and Giffca take a detour through Crimea after departing from the Tower of Guidance and learn that while some things have stayed the same since their last visit, just as much has changed.One thing that hasn't? Their feelings for each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic draws some inspiration from and makes a few direct references to [Schicksal](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898486/) by Langmaor, and while I wouldn’t say it’s _required_ to understand this, it's a really good and super cute fic about Caineghis and Meg and you should read it anyway.

With the final blow dealt to Ashera, victory had been attained and Tellius was safe once again. Word that the war that had consumed the continent had come to an end spread quickly, and while the wounds caused by the conflict would take time to heal, signs that a peace the continent had yet to see in a very long time had already begun to emerge.

Parting words were said and the participants in the final battle against the Goddess of Order each went their own separate ways, some looking to rebuild, some looking to provide reparations to those they hurt, and some looking to create something entirely new. The battle was no doubt a violent clash of ideals, but for some that gave them the guidance they needed to harden their resolve and make the change they wanted to see in the world.

Skrimir in particular wasted no time in heading back home, followed closely behind by the officers that had served under him over the past year. Caineghis and Giffca, on the other hand, took their time greeting friends both old and new. As the pair made their way through the crowd surrounding the Tower of Guidance, they exchanged pleasantries with Tanith and Sigrun, spoke briefly with Kurthnaga to ensure he knew that Gallia would fully support Goldoa as it grew accustomed to having a new king for the first time in its long history, and eventually made their way to Queen Elincia, Renning, and their retainers.

“Oh, King Caineghis!” Elincia exclaimed with a smile on her face, “What a pleasant surprise! I would have expected you to have gone back to Gallia with everyone else.”

“I had hoped that Skrimir would have learned some restraint from Ike’s tactician by now, but it seems like it’ll be a long time before Ranulf can have a day off.”

“Aha, yes,” Elincia giggled, “From what I’ve heard Soren had many strong words to share with your nephew once we were done here, and when he found out Skrimir had already left those words became even more intense.”

“Both are quite the handful to work with, aren’t they?”

“I mean no disrespect, old friend,” Renning interjected from atop his steed, “but what Soren lacks in subtly he more than makes up in his ability to make sound decisions; I don’t think I can say the same about your nephew.”

“Renning! I didn’t see you there!”

“We haven’t seen each other in years and the first words out of your mouth to me are falsehoods? Why must you be _lion_?”

“Be fair, Renning: when am I not?”

The two shared a good laugh, but Giffca shook his head, already tired by this harbinger of what the next few weeks would sound like.

“Please don’t enable him…” he grumbled.

“Okay, okay, Giffca. I’ll spare you your king’s _pun_ ishments for now. Anyway,” Renning turned back to Caineghis, trying to avoid Giffca’s glare, “what brings you here?”

“We were wondering if you’d allow us to accompany you back to Crimea.”

“Oh, of course! We’d be glad to have you!” Elincia looked to her uncle, “Isn’t that right, Renning?”

“It’s been a while since you two have had the chance to visit, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, but my liege!” Bastian spoke up, “I’ve told you this a million times before! Sir Giffca was an incredible asset during the siege on Melior! Why, he cleared out the entirety of the west courtyard all on his own! Darting from Daein to Daein, his jet black fur blending with their black armor that was soon to be stained crimson, he-”

“While I was able to send him to help with Crimea’s liberation, we haven’t visited much anywhere for leisure in the past… 15 years, I’d say?” Caineghis looked to Giffca for clarification.

“It’ll be 17 this fall.”

“Time passes in the blink of an eye, doesn’t it? We thought it would be a good chance to thank Crimea for the support it gave us during this war, since we probably won’t have much free time once we return home. We’ll be assisting Kurthnaga in transitioning into his new role as king, and we’ll be doing what we can to help Begnion and Daein as well, if Sanaki and Micaiah accept our aid.”

Caineghis paused, taking a deep breath as his smile began to look a bit strained, like someone who was resigned to some terrible fate.

“And of course, we’ll all be trying to keep Skrimir from burning down the palace.”

“Sounds like you two have you work cut out for you, but we’ll offer whatever help we can as well!” Elincia did her best to reassure Caineghis, not realizing that he was greatly exaggerating how much difficulty he had with handling his nephew, “We were actually just about to leave, but if there was anyone you’d like to speak with before we head off, it wouldn’t be a problem for us.”

“I _was_ looking to speak with that young swordsman,” Caineghis looked around, “but it seems like he’s already left to go back to the desert.”

“Oh, Stefan?” Lucia -as knowledgeable in swords and those who used them as ever- spoke, “He’s an odd one, but from what I hear if he’d like to be found you shouldn’t have to search hard.”

“Yes, Mordecai was telling me that they had a knack for finding each other in odd ways. Apparently Stefan had buried himself in the sand when they first met and revealed himself the moment Mordecai was above him! And he did it again not to long ago, I hear. Quite the interesting fellow, I’d say! That aside, I think we’re ready to go, no?” Caineghis turned to Giffca, who nodded.

“Before we depart, though,” Elincia hesitated, “I am …unsure how best to word this, but we aren’t going to be able to ensure that your presence will be …well received. I don’t feel that it will become a matter of your safety given that we will personally be escorting you, but I cannot ensure that there are no incidents that Gallia’s nobles may view as a slight against their king. Again, I don’t anticipate anything of note happening, but after everything that’s transpired since I became queen I’d rather you be safe.”

Caineghis sighed again, having known this was coming.

“I am willing to accept responsibility for anything that happens as a result of this. If anything, I’ll be granting the populace of Crimea the chance to reflect upon their current perception of Laguz and if what I’ve heard from Ranulf is true, plenty of them already have,” Caineghis’ smile was wistful for a moment, but Giffca’s follow-up comment was quick to change that.

“I must admit, Queen Elincia: you’re starting to sound like the retainers who try to keep my king from leaving the castle for fear that he is still prone to nearly starting a war over being served overcooked meat.”

“I’ll have you know that only happened once! And overcooked wouldn’t even begin to describe it; I was practically served charcoal! Goldoa even issued an official apology,” Caineghis crossed his arms, his voice filled with faux indignation, “so as far I’m concerned I was in the right.”

“I don’t believe I’ve heard this story before,” Renning smiled, “You’ll tell me this tale of how you got Dheginsea to admit to wrongdoing, right, Giffca?”

“Perhaps,” Giffca shrugged.

Elincia failed to suppress a chuckle, but she and Caineghis regained their composure before long.

“In that case, we’ll do what we can to support you. Gallia’s aid has been indispensable, and I -and Crimea- will be forever appreciative of what you, as king, have done for us. It would be our honor to show you our country.”

“I’ve always been glad to work with Crimea. Let us be off, then.”

 

* * *

 

As they passed through town after town their group drew plenty of stares. At first, the villages were filled with relieved chatter with the revelation that their queen was returning from the war safely, but upon noticing that she was accompanied by two Laguz, they changed to hushed, uneasy whispers. For the Beorc, it had been over a generation since Caineghis had last publicly traveled through Crimea, and he suspected memory of who he and Giffca were had been lost to the passage of time. Simply based on how he was dressed, Caineghis knew it was obvious that he was someone of some repute, and the sight of their queen with an unrecognized noble was sure to lead to some gossip, but even if they had yet to notice Caineghis’ and Giffca’s ears, the massive, muscled frames Lion Laguz were the least like Beorc amongst the various Laguz races and it would have been immediately apparent from any distance that the two of them were not of the same race as the people who bore witness to them.

However, unlike his previous tour of Crimea, the air was _just_ filled with a sense of uneasiness. The thinly veiled hostility from years prior had faded, and while the unease meant that they were a long way from the world he envisioned, the progress that had been made in such a short period of time nonetheless warmed Caineghis’ heart and he did his best to carry himself as he normally would.

Early on their journey, they traveled through the rural town of Ohma, home of Brom and Nephenee. In the crowd that gathered, Caineghis spotted Nephenee, but Brom and Meg were nowhere to be seen. Upon making eye contact with him Nephenee nodded in acknowledgement, and Caineghis responded in turn. A small smile creeping across his face as he watched her retreat from the crowd, recalling tales from Mordecai and Lethe of serving alongside her during the liberation of Crimea.

“Lucia, do you know much about Nephenee?”

“Me? Not a whole lot, unfortunately. Kieran -one of Geoffrey’s knights- was apparently imprisoned alongside her after the capital fell so he would probably know more, but Geoffrey sent him ahead to make sure everything in the capital was in order. She seems like a sweet girl, maybe a little more bashful than most, though.”

“Oh? That’s a bit of a surprise. Ranulf had mentioned that she was…” Caineghis paused, trying to find a way to rephrase what Ranulf had said to something that sounded a bit less like backhanded praise, “ferocious? That she could cut through enemy lines like a hot knife through butter.”

“Now that you mention it, while she’s an incredibly competent halberdier, she does seem like a completely different person once a foe lands a hit on her. It’s almost as if she’s holding back until she realizes that her enemies wouldn’t for her. Her fighting style bears many similarities with Nealuchi’s, actually.”

“Is that true? I wouldn’t rule out Beorc and Laguz fighting in the same way, but I’ve seen Nealuchi fight and he’s the furthest from what I imagine Nephenee’s techniques to be like. Then again, I had been speaking to Meg not too long ago about how watching her fight was like looking in a mirror.”

“I noticed that too! Both of you seem to be aware of what’s going on around you and are never cut too deep by any attacks that land. Is it something that you’re consciously doing, to take blows that you know won’t be fatal so you can save your energy to dodge ones that are, or is it more of a reflex that you’ve honed?”

“For me it’s…” Caineghis conveyed his own thoughts on the matter, spending the remainder of his time in Ohma comparing observations on various Beorc and Laguz fighting techniques and how they weren’t as different as one might think with Lucia, and before they knew it they had nearly exited the town. Their conversation continued until a few minutes after they passed the furthest fields, when a voice called out from behind them.

“Wait up!”

A portly man was running down the road towards them, waving his arms to get their attention. They stopped to allow him to catch up, and he skid to a halt in front of Caineghis, doubling over, out of breath.

“Are you alright, young man?” Caineghis was the first to speak, worried the man, who he now recognized as Brom, had overexerted himself.

“Young?” Brom laughed between labored breaths, “I’m about as young as I’m in shape for sprinting! I’ll tell you, farmin’ helps you pack on a good deal of muscle but it doesn’t train you for getting somewhere quickly!”

He took a few deep breaths, clapped his hands on his face and rightened himself, looking no worse for wear.

“I apologize for stopping you, your highness-,” Brom looked between Caineghis, Elincia, and Renning, “-Your highnesses, but I was shocked to hear nobody offered any hospitality to y’all! Neph rushed over to the fields to tell me you all were passing through since she knew I wanted to thank ya and I was afraid I was too late.”

“We appreciate the offer,” Elincia smiled, “but we’re trying to get back to Melior as soon as possible and I’m afraid we’d lose a lot of time if we stayed any longer.”

“Aw, that’s fine! If you’ve got a schedule to keep I don’t wanna hold ya up.”

“You wanted to thank us?” Renning asked.

“Well, yeah, I’ve got lotsa stuff to thank all of y’for, what with driving out Daein and running the country and all, but I wanted to thank you in particular, Mr. King Caineghis of Gallia!” Brom beamed, turning to face Caineghis again.

Caineghis blinked, unable to recall any time he had done anything specifically for Brom.

“What for?”

“Well y’see, my youngest daughter Meg came back from the tower with us, and when we got home she really gave me a piece of her mind! She told me the two of you talked about some matter or another and that it made her realize she wanted to go off and do her own thing and not just settle down with someone somebody else picked out for her! So that’s what I’m thanking y’for! I was too focused on getting her a nice husband to realize that she’d be the one who’d be best at pickin’ one out!”

Caineghis blushed, having not thought their conversation would have meant as much to Meg.

“It’s only natural to provide guidance to those who seek it out, so I-”

“There’s no need to be so humble, you really did help her out! I would’ve never realized it on my own, and even thinkin’ of it now I hate idea of her trapped in a marriage she wasn’t happy in. It’s not all bad, though! She had a lot of fun trying to hunt down that Zihark, so she’s realized that she wants to travel around a bunch, and if she finds someone she likes- Oh! Listen to me ramble on when y’all’ve somewhere to be!”

Brom turned to leave, then turned back.

“Again, thanks for everything! I was honored to fight alongside all of you! Godspeed to you all!”

His shower of praise was only ended by his hasty return to town, leaving Elincia’s party alone to resume their journey.

“Quite the personality on that one,” Renning said as Brom passed out of their line of sight.

“He only wants to provide the best for his family, and I suppose he thinks I saved his daughter from a life of unhappiness.”

Caineghis shrugged, starting back down the road to the capital.

“It wouldn’t be unfair to say that you did, though,” Lucia contested Caineghis’ indifference, “If my father tried to pair me off with someone I had no feelings for, I wouldn’t hesitate to let him know that there’d be no way he could get me to agree to such a thing, but from the few interactions I had with Meg, she didn’t seem nearly as assertive towards her father as she’d need to be to be able to do that. Sure, we could assume she _could_ be happy in an arranged marriage, but wouldn’t she be just as happy in one she chose for herself, if not more?”

“I suppose so.”

A moment passed before Elincia continued the conversation.

“You’re really good with children, aren’t you, Caineghis?”

“Perhaps.”

In truth, Caineghis found taking care of kids to be second nature to him, but-

“Did you ever have any children?”

“I’ve fathered not a single tyke of my own, but I always loved taking care of my nieces and nephews. Skrimir in particular was even more of a handful when he was younger, but I still had a lot of fun watching over him.”

“Did you just not find someone you wanted to start a family with?”

Caineghis sighed wistfully, trying to hide that this was a bit of a sore subject, “It was more an issue of the politics involved in finding an heir.”

“Oh, so in a way it’s a little like my own situation.”

Caineghis laughed, knowing it couldn’t have been further from the truth, “That’s one way of looking at it.”

“Elincia,” Renning interjected, “Surely we can find a better topic to discuss than prying into Caineghis’ love life.”

“Ah, I apologize if I came off as rude.”

“Oh, no, I really didn’t mind,” Caineghis paused, snuck a glance at Giffca, and then spoke again, “But yes, let’s change the subject.”


	2. Chapter 2

The journey through the rest of the towns passed without anything worth mentioning, and, eventually, their procession made it to the capital. To pass the time, Caineghis occupied himself by taking advantage of the rare chance to speak to the other members of their group.

Lucia had been particularly interested in how Gallia had been founded, since while she knew that it was initially a country of emancipated slaves, she wondered how that had come to be and how they had developed their government from the ground up. With Geoffery, on the other hand, they discussed how their respective countries trained its troops, trying to come up with a way to combine both techniques to create a more efficient training program. Once their thirst for information had been quenched, Caineghis sought out Renning, looking to learn how he had recovered from Izuka’s feral potion, as the majority of his test subjects had been Beast Tribe Laguz and he wanted to look into any hope for a cure for the few that had survived the two wars they were used in. Once all pressing topics of discussion had been exhausted, Renning and Caineghis reminisced about the late King Ramon to pass the time.

Giffca, instead, lent an ear to Bastian’s plentiful tales of espionage. The sage seemed to have been under the impression that Giffca himself served as a personal spy for Caineghis, which gave them both a chuckle, but Giffca made no attempt to correct that notion, telling Caineghis that he enjoyed hearing these extensively embellished stories no matter how perpetually disinterested he seemed. As they neared Melior Bastian shifted his focus to discussing the near future of Crimea with Elincia, Geoffery, and Lucia, allowing Giffca to join Renning and Caineghis in their trip down memory lane.

“Will you be accompanying us to the castle?” Elincia asked an hour or so before they reached the gates to the city, “I can arrange for rooms if you’d like to stay for a few days.”

Caineghis looked to Giffca, who nodded.

“I think we’ll take you up on your offer, though I’m unsure if we’ll stay more than the night”

“Elincia,” Renning spoke up, “I’ll handle getting things set up for Caineghis and Giffca.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’d like to do something for an old friend.”

“If you insist,” Elincia turned to Geoffery, “Geoffery, could you go ahead and let the people at the gates know that we’ll be arriving soon? I don’t foresee there being any issues, but I’d like to know if anything has happened since we left before we head into the city.”

“As you wish,” Geoffery said, commanding his horse to make haste towards the capital.

Elicia walked forward, with Lucia, Bastian, Caineghis and Giffca right behind her, but stopped short when it occurred to her that she didn’t hear Renning following her.

“Uncle?”

“I’d like to discuss something with Caineghis and Giffca before we head inside, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh, sure. Should we wait for you before heading in?”

“We shouldn’t be long.”

“Alright, we’ll meet up with Geoffery and then wait for you,” Elincia said, walking off with Lucia and Bastian.

Renning waited until they were out of sight before he spoke.

“Do you two want separate beds?”

“You’re not going to ask if we want separate rooms first?” Caineghis laughed, “You wound me, Renning.”

“I haven’t seen you in over a decade, and then I spent the past three years out of my mind! You expect me to be able to keep up with the latest gossip? Keep this up and you’ll be on your own for finding a place to sleep tonight!”

“I thought my response to your niece’s interrogation a few days back would have tipped you off plenty to the fact that we’re still together. Did Bastian take all of your investigative skills while you slept?”

“It’s hard to discover the truth when you go out of your way to obscure it, you know!”

Their friendly ribbing continued to devolve into light-hearted jabs, which in turn eventually became a silence interrupted only by the wind running through the trees surrounding them.

“We do appreciate you being discrete about this, by the way,” Caineghis spoke up.

“You two never really liked being public about your relationship, and I wanted to do what I could to respect that.”

“I feel that, especially in the time since Skrimir became heir to the throne, it’s become less and less of a secret that we’re more ‘ _together_ ’ than ‘together’. Neither of us have formally announced anything to anyone, especially since all the nobles would still throw a fit if I chose anyone who couldn’t produce an heir, but it’s never been something we really went out of our way to hide beyond our own desire for privacy. Had I not been King, they likely wouldn’t have batted an eye.”

“I believe that Skrimir thinks that we are simply very close friends, sir,” Giffca spoke for what felt like the first time since they had left the Tower of Judgement, the suddenness of his deep voice causing Renning to jump.

“You really should talk more, Giffca,” Renning shrugged off his surprise as if nothing had happened, “You’re a lot more insightful and a lot less unfriendly than you seem.”

“I do not speak without reason, but if I want to, rest assured that I will.”

Renning laughed.

“You really haven’t changed a bit since we last saw each other, have you?”

“And yet you continue to get old.”

“Hey!” Renning objected, “What was your reason for speaking there?!”

“You called me ‘unfriendly’, did you not? It was only fair that I respond in turn,” Giffca’s chronically indifferent expression and tone would have told anyone else that he was being dead serious, but Renning knew him well enough to see through his words.

“Hmph!”

Renning’s pouting got a laugh out of Caineghis.

“I’m happy to see that you’ve recovered, old friend.”

“We’re a little ways away before I’m back to my usual self, but in the meantime I think I’ll formally abdicate the throne to Elincia.”

“Oh?” Caineghis didn’t doubt Renning’s judgment, but he was nonetheless surprised.

“It’s ironic, really, that Ramon had gone to such lengths to hide her existence from the public so there wasn’t any fuss from people who wanted me to take the throne from him, but she’s grown into a fine queen and, as much as it pains me to say it, I feel that the populace trusts her more than they trust me,” Renning wistfully looked off in the distance.

“Ashnard was far more a force of nature than mortal man, nobody in their right mind would hold what happened against you.”

“I didn’t mean in the sense that I had failed my country, but,” Renning let out a long sigh, “Elincia was the one who took Crimea back from Daein and the one who quelled the rebellion that sought to overthrow her. I had founded the Crimean Royal Guard, but she has led the country to its first three major military victories, and the public is going to respect that far more. I don’t resent her, and, quite frankly, I consider myself incredibly lucky that I’m able to pass the torch to someone so capable. I have no doubt that I would be accepted if I chose to return to the throne, and that Elincia would support my decision as well, but I feel with all my heart that it would be better for Crimea if Elincia continued to lead the country and I supported her to the best of my ability.”

“But is that what you want to do?”

“You know I’d give my life for Crimea; if it’s what I feel will help my country, I won’t hesitate.”

Caineghis frowned, wordlessly telling that Renning that evading the question wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“But yes, I know I can be satisfied with this course of action, “Renning motioned his trusty steed to resume its leisurely trot. We’ve kept Elincia waiting long enough, so we should probably proceed.”

“Indeed,” Caineghis said, following alongside Renning with Giffca close behind.

“You still haven’t answered my earlier question: one bed? Two beds? _Three_ beds?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve shared a good bed, right, Giffca?”

“If that’s what you’d like, sir,” Giffca was, as always, quiet when he spoke.

“Giffca, please,” Caineghis let out an exasperated sigh, “I’ve told you this a million times! You don’t need to defer to me for personal matters.”

“In that case,” Giffca smiled ever so slightly, “I would enjoy spending more time with you, sir.”

“One bed it is!” Renning exclaimed, “You two are really cute for such an old couple, you know?”

“ _I_ know _you_ know we’re not here to put on a show!”

“Ah, there they are!” Renning hastily changed the subject as Elincia and Lucia came into view.

They stood in front of the massive gate into the city, but Geoffery and Bastian were nowhere to be seen. A small guard post stood to the side, manned by a single solider. He glanced up from the book he was reading as they approached and saluted Renning, then turned towards Caineghis and Giffca and did the same for them.

“Everything alright?” Elincia asked as they drew close.

“We lost track of time, that’s all. It’s been a long time since we’ve had the chance to speak, just the three of us, and catching up took a while,” Renning brought his horse to a halt, looking around, “Where are Bastian and Geoffery?”

“They went on ahead to deal with a few things. Nothing major happened during our absence, but they both wanted to look into some minor matters as soon as they could,” Elincia said, and then turned to Caineghis and Giffca, taking on a more serious tone, “Again, I’d like to promise you that my citizens will be on their best behavior, but I’m afraid that it’s not something I can guarantee. If you’d like, we can arrange for an escort to bring us to the castle, but I’m not sure if that would fit your needs.”

“I’d prefer to not present it as something out of the ordinary, if possible. If you’d personally like an escort don’t let us hold you back, but Giffca and I can handle ourselves just fine. We did just fell a goddess, after all!” Caineghis punctuated his response with a hearty laugh.

“I appreciate your concern, but we too have committed deicide,” Elincia let out a laugh of her own, “With a group of this size, it’ll probably take half an hour to an hour to reach the castle. It’s midday, so the main concourse will be a little crowded, but it’ll take much longer if we go through any back routes. Does that sound good to everyone?”

Elincia looked around to see everyone nodding in silence.

“Then let us make for the castle.”

 

* * *

 

The journey through the city differed little from when they had passed through the various towns and villages along the way beyond a significant increase in the number of people who formed the crowds that looked upon them. Melior’s streets were wide, even in the busy markets, but they were barely wide enough for the crowd to create a gap between themselves for them to pass through. Caineghis still felt the same sense of discomfort coming from the populace, but it was no more intense than it had been in the previous towns, so Caineghis told himself that perhaps it was only as strong here as it had been elsewhere because of sheer the number of people staring at them.

Perhaps the knowledge that Laguz had assisted during the siege that took back Castle Crimea three years ago had dulled their belief in the vicious rumors they had heard regarding them?

Like with the other towns, Caineghis passed the time by speaking with Renning and Giffca. Lucia and Elincia likely would have joined in, but they were occupied with addressing the many people approaching the queen, expressing their happiness that she was returning unharmed. Elincia did her best to keep each interaction brief, but the sheer amount of people that tried to speak to her built up quickly. They weren't slowed down significantly, but Lucia eventually had to step in to start pulling Elincia away from her people, apologetically expressing that they were taking their guests to the castle and promising that in a few days' time Elincia would give an address regarding what had happened and what the future would look like.

“That young man -well, I suppose he isn’t _that_ young by Beorc standards-” Caineghis laughed, “Stefan, was it? Mordecai seemed to have taken quite the liking to him, and the country that he was looking to form sounded like something Tellius has been lacking.”

“Do you wish to support his endeavors, sir?” Giffca’s voice was quiet as always.

“Oh, I’d love to, but you know how our upper class can be,” Caineghis’ tone shifted to one of contemptuous mocking, “I can hear them now: ‘Are you mad?! We have no land to cede to fellow Laguz, let alone some ' _half-_ '” Caineghis caught himself, knowing it wasn’t his place to reveal Stefan’s heritage, much less where half of Crimea could hear him, “-let alone to someone who has done nothing for our country!’ I may be the one who holds all the power, but they’re the ones who hold the money and they’ve taken every chance they’ve had to let it go to their head.”

“You should just show them who’s boss,” Renning joked, making a few punching gestures in the air.

“And have them run off to Goldoa with all our funding?” Caineghis laughed, “I’d rather-”

“Excuse me? Mister?” A small voice called from somewhere below Caineghis as felt something tugging at the mantle he draped over his shoulder, prompting him to look down.

It was a child!

A Beroc girl, likely no older than 6 or 7 stood to his side, pulling on his mantle to get his attention. Caineghis quickly glanced through the crowd so he could try to find a possible parent that this unaccompanied child belonged to. His search revealed no likely candidates, so he got down on one knee so his large body was a bit closer to the small child’s level.

“Hello, young lady. May I ask your name?”

“Hi!” the girl’s voice was upbeat and chipper, “I’m Lucy! What’s your name?”

“My name? I’m called Caineghis.”

There was a gasp from the crowd as someone recognized that name as the name of the King of Gallia, followed quickly by murmurs spreading throughout the onlookers.

“Caane… Caena… Ceane…” The child stumbled over the king’s name, unfamiliar with the syllables needed to pronounce it, “I’ve never heard anyone with that name before!”

“I’m not surprised,” Caineghis let out a soft laugh, “I’m not from around here.”

“Oh! Is that why your ears are weird?”

Caineghis felt the crowd around him tense up at the child’s question. To insult not just a king, but a Laguz? Would she be able to survive this encounter?

Caineghis did his best to not react to it. He knew the crowd expected him to take it as some sort of slight, and answered the question as if it were no different from ‘what did you have for lunch?’ since he knew that to the child in front of him it _was_ no different. Six-year-olds weren’t old enough to be capable of malice, after all. It was a question driven solely by curiosity and he saw little reason to hold that against her.

“My ears are a little _different_ ,” he stressed the pronunciation of ‘different’ to try to convey to the child that it was the word he preferred to use without making her feel like he was reprimanding her, “from your ears because I’m what’s called a Laguz. We’re a lot like humans like you, which we call Beorc, but we can shift into a different form, like a bird or a cat.”

“Wow! You can be a cat?! That’s so cool! I wish I could be a cat!” Lucy’s eyes were wide with wonder at the novelty of such a concept.

“That I can,” Caineghis glanced around again, “Lucy, do you know where your parents are?”

Lucy gasped and looked around.

“That’s right! That’s why I wanted to talk to you! You’re really tall, right? Do you see my mom?”

By now most of crowd had silently breathed their sigh of relief and moved on with whatever business had brought them to the market, so it was a bit harder to pick out someone who was moving around, looking for a missing child.

“Oh, well,” Caineghis looked around again, humoring Lucy’s request, “I think I might have seen her, but I don’t know what she looks like. Would if be okay if I lifted you up so you could check?”

“Oh! Oh! Can I ride on your shoulders?”

Caineghis smiled softly at Lucy.

“Only if you promise to not pull too hard on my hair.”

“Okay, it’s a promise!”

Lucy stuck her arms out so Caineghis could lift her up, and he gently scooped her and placed her on his left shoulder, steading her with the same arm. He could hear Giffca and Renning snicker behind him, no doubt amused by the small child perched upon his shoulder like a parrot upon a pirate, but he paid them no heed. He had a young maiden in distress to help, after all!

“Hmmmm….” Lucy shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked around, “I don’t see her, can you turn… that way?”

“Sure thing, captain.”

Caineghis rotated in the direction Lucy pointed in, and she almost immediately shouted and started waving.

“Oh, there she is! Hi Mama!”

Caineghis saw a Beorc woman in the crowd turn towards them at the sound of her daughter’s voice, and once she saw Lucy she quickly made her way through the throngs of people towards them.

“Oh, Lucille! Where were you?! I was worried-”

She slowed as she grew closer, having noticed Caineghis, Elincia, and Renning, a complex expression beginning to make its way across her face.

“Can I let you down now, Lucy?”

“Okay Mister!”

Caineghis gently grabbed Lucy and lowered her to the ground, and she wasted no time running over to her mother.

“Mama! Mama!” Lucy jumped up and down in excitement, “I made a new friend! He can turn in to a cat!”

“That’s nice, sweetie…”

Lucy’s mother bowed to Elincia, Renning and Lucia, and then turned to Caineghis and Giffca.

“Thank you for looking after my daughter. I’m sorry if she said anything… unbecoming.”

Caineghis smiled, wishing he didn’t have to have this conversation.

“Please, don’t worry about it.”

“Um…”

Lucy’s mother hesitated for a moment, and a lump formed in Caineghis’ throat. Was she nervous that her daughter had been in such close proximity to a Laguz?

“I’m… I’d like to thank you for aiding Princess Elincia during Daein’s invasion.”

Caineghis was a bit surprised that his fears were unfounded, and it took him a moment to decide how he would reply to her.

“Oh, that? It’s wasn’t anything out of the ordinary…”

“Please, I insist. You’ve done so much for Crimea; if you hadn’t intervened, who knows what more Daein would have done.”

“No, really, I wasn’t able to-”

Giffca, having grown tired of years of Caineghis deflecting every single piece of praise he received, interrupted.

“On behalf of my king, please allow me accept your thanks for the aid Gallia provided. I’m sorry that his obstinance has no end, but old men can be like that sometimes.”

Caineghis pretended to take serious offense to Giffca’s light jab.

“Have you forgotten that you’re older than me, Giffca?”

Before they could continue Lucy gasped loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“You’re a king?!?!?!”

“That’s right, Lucy. I’m the king of Gallia, to the south of here.”

Lucy’s face lit up like Tormod had just cast Meteor.

“Wow! I can’t believe I’m friends with a king! Everyone at school is going sooooooooooooooo jealous! Mama, did you hear that?! I’m friends with a king!”

“Yes, I heard, Lucille,” Lucy’s mother turned back to Caineghis, a smile on her face, “We should get going now, but again, thank you for all that you’ve done.”

“Bye Mister Cane-gas!”

Lucy waved as her mother dragged her off into the crowd, leaving them to continue their journey to the castle.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were good with children,” Lucia expressed her surprise at how well Caineghis had handled that situation, and Elincia seemed to share the sentiment.

“Me? Make jokes? I would _never_.”


	3. Chapter 3

As was typical with massive stone buildings that would be time consuming and incredibly expensive to alter, very little had changed in the castle since Caineghis and Giffca had last visited. Many members of the staff had been rotated and some worn down tapestries had been restored, but beyond that it was almost as if no time had passed at all.

Tired from the journey and the war that had just ended, it was quickly decided that instead of a large feast celebrating their return, there would be a small dinner and everybody would be allowed a few days to rest before they returned to their courtly duties.

“So,” Renning tore apart a piece of bread, “How are we going to break the news that we killed the goddess that most people in Tellius worship?”

“Micaiah mentioned that Ashera was more ‘asleep’ than ‘dead’, so it might not be as much of a problem as it seems,” Lucia prodded the meat on her plate, “She had been asleep for the past thousand years anyway, so would it really make much of a difference now?”

“If you’ll allow me to interject,” Caineghis said, “I feel like it may still become a point of contention that we even fought Ashera, regardless of her state after the battle.”

“That is a good point, but do you think we could effectively explain the situation?” Elincia seemed daunted by the task they had before them, “The idea that the goddess everyone worshipped wasn’t the one who had our interests in mind, or even the ‘true’ goddess of Tellius… I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around the whole thing myself.”

“You’re all forgetting that we don’t have to tell anyone,” Bastian mumbled through the food in his mouth, not even looking up from the reports he had buried himself in.

Geoffrey grumbled a bit at Bastian’s poor table manners.

“And what if other people who know the truth choose to spread it?”

“There’s nothing to worry about; I’ve already gotten everyone who was at the Tower of Guidance to agree to keep this a secret.”

The table was silent as everyone looked up from their food and stared at him.

“I really don’t say this enough, Bastian,” Renning shuddered, “but you’re a terrifying man.”

Bastian looked up at Renning, a sly grin on his face.

“Your praise is what drives me to do my best, m’lord.”

Renning let out a hearty laugh.

“You’ll have to do even better than that if you want that raise, you know.”

“Oh!” Bastian gesticulated wildly, “The idea that you think I am only in this line of work for the money will drive me to drink!”

“You’re already getting paid more than enough to support that lifestyle, so just be sure that you don’t fall behind in your work,” Renning took a sip of wine, “So does that mean we don’t have to do anything to …as you would put it, ‘satiate the masses’?”

“As long as word doesn’t get out, everything should resolve itself naturally. As Lucia mentioned, Ashera doesn’t seem to need to be awake to prevent Tellius from falling apart, so aside from the matter of how to handle Daein and Begnion’s actions during-”

“Is that what you’re reading?” Elincia didn’t let him finish, “I thought that I told you to at least take tonight off to rest!”

“The world isn’t going to wait for Crimea to stop eating dinner!”

“And you won’t be able to do anything for Crimea if you work yourself into the ground!”

It seemed like the end to Bastian’s bickering with Elincia was nowhere in sight, so Geoffery turned to address Caineghis.

“So, King Caineghis, do you feel like this trip… fit your needs?”

“Oh,” Elincia immediately turned her attention away from Bastian, “I was meaning to ask you about that.”

“I… had no real goals, I suppose, but if I had to name one it would be exposing people to Laguz, and it’s hard to say that I failed at doing that.”

“The way you helped the young girl in the market was impressive, so I can see why Meg would have taken a liking to you.”

“I didn’t think it was something of note.”

Caineghis mumbled as he felt his face flush, now red with embarrassment.

“You’re much better at handling kids than you are at handling flattery, sir.”

“Are you trying to determine where my ability to handle your snide remarks falls on that scale, Giffca?”

A few laughs resounded around the dinner table.

A moment later, Caineghis sighed.

“I think I may have been a bit pessimistic about how Crimea’s citizenry viewed Laguz.”

“Oh, no, Caineghis,” Elincia protested, “I don’t think your caution was unfounded at all! After the incident following when we left you to head to Begnion, and especially after Ludveck’s attempt at a coup, I think your apprehension was entirely justified.”

“Yes, yes, I know. I was crestfallen when I received word from Ranulf that a skirmish had broken out when it was revealed that your traveling party contained Laguz, but I’ve come to expect reactions like that. I know that Daein’s occupation had come with such force that pleasing their captors had become the only way they thought they could ensure their survival, but... it still hurt.”

The air around the table had become heavy. Elincia shifted in her seat, uncomfortable that Caineghis’ understanding of what happened at Port Toha was only half the story but not knowing how -or if- she should correct his misconceptions.

“Lucy’s mother seemed to be fine with you, at least.”

“That is true, but when Lucy had asked about my ears, I could feel the crowd tense up. Maybe it was just because I’m nobility, but I can’t help but feel that they expected me to take insult to it simply because I was Laguz. I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but I can’t say that I was thrilled at the crowd’s reaction.”

Caineghis sighed again.

“I think it’s hard for people to change how they view others, but on the other hand, perhaps I have simply been too slow to accept that others have changed. Even during that scuffle in Port Toha, Mordecai told me that some of the townsfolk tried to escort them to safety, so perhaps people like Lucy’s mother aren’t as few and far between as my suspension of disbelief allows me to believe.”

“It’s all things we can work towards,” Renning said with a shrug, “these things take time and effort, and if you don’t give them both they’ll never bear fruit.”

“Indeed.”

The mood remained somber for a moment, and Geoffery took it upon himself to change the subject.

“Would you like some wine, King Caineghis?”

“I appreciate the offer but beast tribe Laguz can’t drink alcohol; it’s incredibly toxic to us.”

“Really? I didn’t realize there were differences like that between Laguz and Beorc.”

“Oh, there are quite a few! Take catnip, for instance…”

 

* * *

 

The post-dinner conversation eventually wound down, and Caineghis and Giffca returned to the room Renning had set aside for them. Tired from their journey, they disrobed and got into bed almost immediately, pausing only to lock the door and open the window slightly to allow air to circulate in and out of the room.

The moon cast bluish light across the bed as the two lay there, basking in the soft glow and the warm breeze. Giffca nuzzled into Caineghis, his head resting on Caineghis’ chest as he wrapped his arms loosely around his abdomen. Caineghis could feel Giffca’s breathing slow as he fell asleep, and the red lion smiled as he looked down on the one man he loved more than anybody else. It took a moment for him to realize that he hadn’t intended to let Giffca fall asleep yet, and he felt guilty that he would have to disrupt his companion’s slumber.

“Giffca?”

Caineghis shifted beneath Giffca’s embrace, trying to gently wake him up.

“Mmm?”

Giffca purred, stirring slightly, but remained sound asleep.

Caineghis smiled gently as the vibrations from Giffca’s soft vocalization reverberated throughout his body. He brought his hand to Giffca’s face and began to lightly stroke it; it was so serene when he slept. It was the only time he allowed himself to fully relax, and it softened his near-perpetual frown into a slight pout. The tip of his tongue extended past his lips, evoking the image of what one of the younger beast laguz might call a ‘blep’.

Caineghis found himself forlorn over the fact that he couldn’t spend all night gazing at this lion lying on his chest, but he needed to wake Giffca up for something that couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

“ _Giffca_?”

Caineghis spoke a little louder this time, but Giffca gave no response.

He moved his hand to Giffca’s nose, gently squeezed it shut, and-

“BWAH!”

Giffca gasped for air, his body forcing itself awake to find some way to combat the abrupt asphyxiation. He eventually steadied his breathing and glared at Caineghis, far more unhappy with how his sleep was disturbed than the fact that it was interrupted in the first place.

“Are you trying to get me to leave you?”

“Sorry, I wanted to talk but you seemed to be…”

A smug grin crept across Caineghis’ face.

“Catnapping.”

“Is that a yes?” Giffca growled in response.

“Sorry, sorry, but you’re awake meow so would you be willing to discuss some things?”

Giffca scowled as he shifted on the bed, moving so while his head still was resting on Caineghis’ chest, he was now facing his not-so-platonic life partner. His facial hair tickled Caineghis’ chest and he let out a deep exhale before he spoke again.

“Sure, what’s bothering you?”

“I’ve been thinking-”

“That’s dangerous.”

“That’s why I woke you up.”

“Fair.”

“I’ve been thinking about what Renning said, about formally passing the throne to Elincia, and I think it might be time for me to step down too.”

“What actually brought this on?”

“You repeatedly calling me old.”

“Let me rephrase that: Why?”

Caineghis let out a sigh, Giffca’s head following the rise and the fall of his chest.

“I feel like I’ve been stuck dealing with what Gallia’s problems for so long that I’ve gotten out of touch with what’s been going on in the rest of Tellius.”

“You’re out of touch?”

“I’m out of touch.”

“Well, I can’t really disagree, but why now?”

“I feel like Skrimir has received enough experience over the past year to be able to handle Gallia, and, more importantly, that Ranulf has figured out how to get him under control.”

Giffca scoffed.

“Are you really going to do that to Ranulf?”

“I’m not going to leave them to run the country all on their own, I just think it’s time for me to pass the baton to some younger folk. Tellius is changing, and I don’t want Gallia to be left behind.”

“As long as you’re willing to take responsibility and stick around, I’ll support your decision.”

“You’ve really trained me well, huh?”

Giffca laughed, then rotated his head so it rested on its side again, nuzzling into Caineghis’ chest.

“I sure haven’t gotten you to stop phrasing it like that.”

The two of them lay there.

It was nice, being given the chance to relax together.

It felt like it had been years since they last were able to do this.

Given everything that had happened in the past few years, it very well could have been.

“How are you doing?”

Caineghis could feel Giffca’s low voice though his chest, throughout his whole body.

It felt familiar, it felt comforting.

“Hm?”

“It’s clear that something else is on your mind.”

“Am I that much of an open book to you?”

“I’ve been by your side for over a century; there’s not much you could hide from me anymore.”

“Oh, really?” Caineghis smiled, amused, “Then you tell me: What’s on my mind?”

Giffca remained silent for a moment. He was deep in thought, but his expression warded off Caineghis’ drive to break his concentration. It went past ‘stern’; it was serious -more so than usual- and from that Caineghis knew he should give his beloved time to refine whatever thoughts were flying around within his head.

“You’re not exactly afraid of getting old, but it’s still not easy to admit that there are younger people who are upstaging you at every turn both in terms of life accomplishments and in terms of personal growth. Beorc live their lives much faster than us, and while Greil’s death was a harsh reminder of that fact, you feel guilty over forgetting that in both our age and in our status as Laguz, we’re far less prone to change. You feel that your apprehension towards believing that there are beorc who have reconciled their preconceived notions of laguz with reality is justified due to the not-so-historical precedents that have been set, but it’s still not a part of you that you particularly like. You’d like to move on from your own preconceived notions of beorc, but you’re afraid that it’s too late for you to change.”

Caineghis didn’t immediately react to Giffca being right on the mark since he knew that -as always- Giffca knew that he knew, but it was still reassuring to know that after all these years they still knew each other like the back of their hand.

He sighed, his smile faltering, it becoming a little less wide.

“…And what would you say in response?”

“That you’re being too hard on yourself. You’ve acknowledged that it takes time for people to change, but you refuse to give that time to yourself. Gallia’s hand in the liberation and restoration of Crimea was a sudden shock to the Beorc’s perception of us, and it’s unfair for you to expect yourself to change as fast when you haven’t had a comparable experience. Ultimately you fear how you are perceived by those you will be leaving your legacy to, but you don’t know how to address those fears.”

Giffca paused for a second.

“You want to change and knowing you, you’ll be able to make that change. You don’t accept parts of yourself that you don’t like as something inevitable; you’ve always done whatever you could to improve,” Giffca hugged Caineghis tighter for a moment, “and I’ll be there to make sure you do.”

Caineghis’ smile returned. He knew that Giffca would always have his back, that he would be there to catch him when he fell, but that didn’t make the affirmation any less sweet.

“I believe that anybody worth listening to would feel that asking for more isn’t reasonable, especially given all your other virtues.”

“What’s that? I have other virtues? Perhaps you could refresh my memory on what those are.”

While he couldn’t see Giffca’s face from how they were laying, Caineghis felt it shift into a bit less of a scowl.

“Oh, well…”

Giffca trailed off as if he was struggling to think of what it was that made people flock to Caineghis, though they both were well aware that he had no trouble listing everything that kept them joined at the hip.

“We already know about how much you love kids, but you’re also really great at hugs, and you use your position to help people as much as you can instead of simply indulging in your own whims, and your chest has the perfect amount of cushioning for resting a head on, and, above all else, while you’ve retained your playful side and do everything in your power to try to get under my skin with as many low quality cat-related puns as you can muster, you’ve grown to be able to not just be able to take things seriously, but to also to be able to readily switch between both dispositions based off of what you feel the situation needs. In short, you’re the embodiment of ‘strength through compassion’, and people respect you for that.”

“Awwww,” Caineghis ruffled Giffca’s hair, soliciting a grumble from the older man, “You really mean it?”

“That depends on how many of mine you can list.”

“Okay, let’s see… you’re… um…” Caineghis paused for a long time, “I’ve got nothing.”

Giffca swung his head around so Caineghis could see how unpleased he was by that comment.

“Would you like to repeat that?”

Caineghis lightly flicked Giffca’s forehead.

“I’m just teasing you.”

“I’m aware.”

With a chuckle, Caineghis held his hands up in defeat.

“Okay, okay, I yield. To start with, you’ve always been spectacular at keeping meow-t of trouble-”

Giffca groaned.

“-and while I’ll always be appreciative of that, it’s not really fair to frame you being the entirety of my self-control when I was younger as something that you should have had to do.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing for that,” Giffca let out a loud sigh, having heard this line of thought a million times before.

“But-”

“You calmed down to the point where I no longer felt I had to constantly watch over you over half a century ago. I understand that this is something that you feel guilty about, but you’ve changed to the point where it is no longer a problem and believe me, I’m glad of that.”

“But-!”

Giffca brought his hand up to Caineghis’ lips, silencing the younger man.

“Quiet. I don’t want to hear another word of this. What I do want to hear is you telling me about the other ‘virtues’ in my possession.”

“Fine… Even if you never tie your hair back much anymore,” Caineghis mumbled, knowing full well that Giffca stopped doing so in order to make it into a reward he could withhold from Caineghis should the need arise, “you’ve managed to age _almost_ as beautify as I have. Over time, you’ve also come to allow yourself to relax and enjoy yourself, but you’ve still retained that edge that allowed your political acumen to become as unrivaled as it is. You have the patience of a saint-”

Giffca shot him a look, making Caineghis issue a quick revision to that statement.

“-Which is evident in, among other things, how much you’ve let Skrimir learn from his mistakes these past few months. Letting him charge headlong against the Black Knight? That was a great learning experience for him, and I’m glad you let him have that.”

Caineghis and Giffca were silent for a moment.

“You would have stepped in if he was going to get himself killed, right?”

“If I said yes would you believe me?”

Caineghis laughed, knowing that Giffca was quite fond of Skrimir. Not even ‘deep down, he actually liked Skrimir quite a bit’; he simply was firm with the young man because he had nearly a hundred years’ worth of experience in dealing with someone just like the young lion and knew that Skrimir needed someone who wouldn’t concede that the king-to-be was out of anybody’s control.

“Of course, there was also you humoring Bastian on the journey here. Speaking of Bastian,” Caineghis let out a small laugh, “You’re also incredibly straightforward. I wouldn’t necessarily describe you as ‘blunt’, but you’re to the point and that’s something not a lot of people in Tellius are willing to be. You’ve stuck to your values, but you’re not afraid to reevaluate them either. Truly you’re a visionary, a one of a kind man, the man who will- rather, the man who has already saved Tellius from itself!”

Giffca remained quiet, appraising Caineghis’ appraisal of him. Caineghis knew how Giffca was going to react, but the waiting drove him crazy and Giffca always seemed to wait until Caineghis was about just about burst from the anticipation before he would act. In the many years they had spent together he could never get Giffca to admit that making him wait was a deliberate action meant to keep him in line, but he had his suspicions.

“Some of those felt a bit backhanded, and a few were pretty obvious embellishments of the truth meant to gain my favor, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

“You’re the best, Giffca.”

Giffca grunted in acknowledgment, though the smile on his face betrayed that it wasn’t meant to be a gruff dismissal of Caineghis’ praise.

“Is there anything that you’d like to do with the freedom granted by no longer being king?”

“I think it may be fun to travel around Tellius a bit. Greil’s son mentioned wanting to face me in a duel, and the idea is tempting, but I’d never dream of going anywhere without you, of course.”

“You know I’d follow you to the ends of the earth.”

“Even if I chose to go into the desert? I know how much you hate sand.”

“I want to be with you.”

“What’s this?” Caineghis put a hand to his mouth and gasped theatrically, “You’ve suddenly become quite the romantic, Giffca!”

Giffca quickly turned his head away from Caineghis again, but not before Caineghis caught a glimpse of him blushing furiously.

“Maybe… perhaps the idea of being able to get married after all this time has relit the flames of passion that now rage inside me.”

Caineghis let out a far less factious gasp, and then fell silent, having not realized that Giffca still sought to tie the knot.

“I’m sorry if I misunderstood,” Giffca continued, “but I was under the impression the business with finding an heir was the only thing-”

“Oh, no, that’s not it at all, I just didn’t realize it was something you were still considering.”

“It doesn’t have to be something large, and it could just be the two of us if you’d prefer, but… it’d just be nice to finally make it _official_.”

“If that’s what you’d like to do, I’ll gladly accept.”

“It should probably wait until Skrimir finally gets accustomed to being king.”

“That it should.”

Caineghis placed his hand on Giffca’s back and brought him closer, feeling him relax just a little bit more from the skin-on-skin contact.

“That being said I can’t wait to see the look on Renning’s face when he hears that you finally proposed to me and had the nerve to do it without a ring!”

Giffca hugged Caineghis tighter in response.

“Who said anything about you leaving this bed?”

Caineghis laughed, smiling at his soon-to-be but nonetheless longtime husband.

“Okay, okay, maybe I won’t tell him about that part.”

A moment passed as they lay there in the soft glow of the moon.

And then another, their breathing, their heartbeats in sync.

And another, together in each other’s arms.

“I’m really glad I’ve been able to spend my years growing old alongside you.”

Giffca turned back to Caineghis and smiled sleepily.

“I love you too, Caineghis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caineghis and Giffca is the one ship that I’ve put any significant amount of emotional investment into, and I had a lot of fun writing this! I had been holding off on writing anything for the two because I didn’t want to ‘mess it up’ or whatever, but sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and trust in your ability to do something.  
> Because of that, I'd be extra appreciative of any feedback/critique on this, no matter how small it may be.
> 
> The hardest part of this was definitely making Giffca more than just an extension of Caineghis, but I felt making Giffca a slight ‘tsukkomi’ to Caineghis’ slight ‘boke’ was a good (and fun) way to build upon Giffca’s seriousness without drawing too far away from who he is in canon, and to expand upon the dynamic hinted at by Skrimir being compared to Caineghis when he was younger. We really don’t see a lot of Giffca and Caineghis (or anyone else who wasn’t in immediate proximity of Ike or Micaiah for an extended period of time :^U) in PoR or RD, but I think I managed to do pretty well with what little we’ve been given.  
> Maybe we’ll get more in a future Forging Bonds event? I can dream, at least.
> 
> Wow that sentence, which I wrote back in… September (before we even knew Laguz would be in Heroes? Wow!), aged like fine wine. Remember kids: Dreams are still possible.
> 
> I ended up spending more time on Laguz/Beorc race relations than I originally intended but I think that it’s kinda… not really something that should (or could) be ignored when you have Gallia’s nobility interact with the citizenry of Crimea? I recently replayed Path of Radiance and it stood out to me that Caineghis said (to Ike’s face!) that Greil was one of the only Beorc he’d ever trusted (Renning and Ramon being the two others he named), and yet on the other hand it’s clear that in how he goes above and beyond in supporting Elincia and Ike (and the rest of the Crimean Liberation Army) that he consciously _wants_ to be able to trust Beorc. I didn’t really spell out why there’s that dissonance, but it’s been a little over three generations since Gallia became a (recognized) independent nation and between that _really_ not being a long time and the reasons why they formed their own nation _still_ existing in contemporary Tellius it’s easy to understand why Caineghis can’t just forgive and forget.  
> Giffca, of course, is always there to help him sort through his feelings.
> 
> Again, this fic drew some inspiration from and made a few direct references to [Schicksal](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898486/) by Langmaor, and if you haven’t read it yet, you absolutely should.
> 
> The title of this fic comes from α Leonis and β Leonis, the two brightest stars in the constellation of Leo, which have the proper names Regulus and Denebola respectively. Regulus means ‘little king’ in Latin, and Denebola is a shortening of an Arabic phrase that means ‘tail of the lion’, which I felt fit Caineghis and Giffca enough to make this a title that’s positively stellar.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! There were a few more ideas I wanted to incorporate (or expand upon) but I think they might work better in something else ;)


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